Samsung and SK Hynix join the "Stargate," OpenAI adds fuel to the fire for memory chips

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OpenAI announced the establishment of strategic partnerships with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, with the two Korean memory chip giants set to supply advanced memory chips for the "Stargate" project.

On October 5th, according to ZF Trading Desk, Goldman Sachs stated in its latest research report that during Sam Altman's visit to Korea, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and OpenAI announced the establishment of a strategic partnership to supply advanced memory chips for the "Stargate" project.

As previously mentioned by Wallstreetcn, according to statements recently released by Samsung and Hynix, Altman signed a letter of intent in Seoul. The agreement aims to include these two companies, dominant in the memory chip sector, into the Stargate data center construction plan, which also involves giants like Nvidia and Oracle.

Analysts at the bank estimate that OpenAI is expected to require a monthly capacity of 900,000 DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) wafers to operate its advanced AI models. This scale of demand amounts to 103%-114% of the combined 2025 revenue of the three major DRAM suppliers: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. Even if calculated as server DRAM, it’s equivalent to the total combined DRAM revenue of the three giants.

Goldman Sachs analysis points out that this cooperation will significantly increase Korean memory chip makers' capital expenditure. Given the capacity demand raised by OpenAI, this will also greatly tighten industry supply.

Goldman believes that the partnership is also expected to indirectly benefit other NAND (flash memory) manufacturers, since Samsung and Hynix will allocate more capital expenditure and resources to their DRAM businesses, relatively reducing investment in the NAND sector. In addition, relevant suppliers such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Hansol Chemical will also benefit.

Order Scale Unprecedented, Supply Chain Faces Capacity Challenge

The 900,000 wafer monthly capacity demand put forward by OpenAI is unprecedented for the memory chip industry.

Goldman's analysis shows that this number is roughly equivalent to 57% of the current total capacity of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron.

According to Goldman's calculation model, if all are calculated as HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) wafers, each wafer can produce 430 chips, with a 60% yield, each chip has a capacity of 32GB, and an ASP of $13 per GB, annual revenue will reach $145 billion. Even if calculated as server DRAM, annual revenue would reach $131 billion.

Currently, the two major Korean memory manufacturers’ combined DRAM monthly capacity is expected to increase by 200,000 wafers by the end of 2027 compared to the end of 2025.

Goldman states that to meet OpenAI’s demand of 900,000 wafers, the two companies will need to expand capacity substantially, resulting in significant increases in capital expenditure over the coming years. According to media reports, OpenAI plans to begin ordering these wafers in 2029.

According to Samsung Electronics’ announcement, the company will supply advanced semiconductor products including high-performance and high-efficiency DRAM, and also provide solutions in advanced chip packaging and integration of memory with system semiconductors.

According to SK Telecom’s announcement, SK Hynix will participate in the "Stargate" project as an HBM supply partner. This division of labor reflects both companies’ expertise and strategic positioning in different memory technology fields.

Industry Landscape Reshaped, NAND Market Welcomes Unexpected Benefit

This massive DRAM order is expected to reshape the memory chip market landscape.

The research report points out that as Samsung and Hynix need to allocate more capital and resources to their DRAM business, resource allocation for NAND flash memory will be relatively constrained.

Goldman analysts note that although current eSSD demand is strong, the two Korean manufacturers’ investment in NAND will be relatively limited. This reallocation of resources is expected to indirectly benefit other NAND manufacturers, having a positive impact on the market supply-demand balance.

Additionally, Goldman analysts believe that beyond memory chip supply, suppliers such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics will also benefit from this cooperation.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics supplies AI servers with MLCC and FC-BGA substrates, and Hansol Chemical mainly supplies memory materials to Samsung Electronics. Both are expected to benefit from the industry chain expansion.

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